Dissertation
Perinatal Trauma-Related Symptoms in Veteran Women: Differential Parenting Cognitions and Perceived Impairment in Mother-Infant Bonding
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000002459
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/123368
Abstract
The perinatal period and its accompanying physiological and psychosocial shifts confer heightened susceptibility to mental health problems. Research on the risks of maternal trauma-related distress on parental functioning and offspring social-emotional development indicate less-adaptive parenting cognitions and behaviors (e.g., distorted or negative appraisals of the infant, avoidance of relating with the infant), more challenging infant temperament characteristics, and attachment difficulties in the context of maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such findings are of increased relevance with women of childbearing age occupying more military positions than ever and considerably higher rates of PTSD in veteran than civilian women.
In this study, observed-variable path analysis was used to examine effects of perinatal PTSD symptoms on maternal-infant functioning in a sample of perinatal veteran women (N=28), with focus on parenting cognitions and behaviors, infant temperament, and maternal perceptions of mother-infant bonding. Hypotheses were supported insofar as prenatal PTSD symptoms predicted postpartum rigid maternal beliefs, with rigid maternal beliefs predicting bonding problems, constituting a possible full-mediation scenario. Pre-mentalizing, a facet of parental reflective functioning (i.e., appraisal of the infant as a separate psychological agent) comprising presumptive/intrusive parenting behavior and shown as maladaptive for attachment development, predicted bonding problems and moderated the second-stage mediation path such that PTSD symptoms predicted greater bonding impairment at high pre-mentalizing. Conditional indirect effects indicated that PTSD symptoms predicted fewer bonding problems through rigid maternal beliefs at a high level of pre-mentalizing. Results were inconclusive regarding roles of infant temperament in buffering or exacerbating effects of PTSD on bonding quality, perhaps related to low variability in scores.
Results suggest cognitive rigidity and distortions often presenting in PTSD translate to maternal functioning, with implications for the parent-child relationship. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and parent-guidance programs targeting maladaptive parenting beliefs and behavior are expected to be useful with appropriate postpartum screening and referrals. Follow-up analysis of linear models embedded in the broader path model would enhance interpretive clarity and a larger sample would improve reproducibility and generalizability. Clinically meaningful symptom changes from prenatal to postpartum assessment, individual symptom profiles, and types of trauma experienced, as well as comparison with civilian women, warrant further examination.
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Details
- Title
- Perinatal Trauma-Related Symptoms in Veteran Women: Differential Parenting Cognitions and Perceived Impairment in Mother-Infant Bonding
- Creators
- Alyssa Alexandra Neumann
- Contributors
- Maria A Gartstein (Advisor)Tammy D Barry (Committee Member)Paul S Strand (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 78
- Identifiers
- 99900606856301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation